'We do need places where we meet and greet formally or informally.' Photograph: Alamy

A short while ago, a friend with a laptop caused a fish-and-chip shop to deliver a meal to our door. This was the latest in a long line of items delivered to the house. Books, and every other thing, from Amazon. Ocado taking the place of a butcher and baker. All this is doubtless much preferred by the young, who love to do everything through their machines, yet there seem to be fewer and fewer places where older folk are likely to be out and about and meet other people.

Mary Portas, of course, is the dedicated reviver of local shops, but the only time I ever met her was when she was in Morrisons. So is it possible that the supermarkets themselves might evolve into something with more social possibilities? Several have coffee shops attached already. The lost local post office near me turned up in Budgens. There are community noticeboards in quite a few of the most unlikely places.

There might be all sorts of initiatives: Tesco dog walkers, Sainsbury bingo nights, Asda social occasions organised for charity. Waitrose almost forms a social centre for keen cooks as it is.

If we do need places where we meet and greet formally or informally there's no reason why the big firms shouldn't provide it. After all, the old town centre itself was a once a market square.